The Northern Air Temple of Nightmares
by ClockworkCaptain
Summary: After Kai asks for help Iroh and Mako go to the foreboding Northern Art Temple to save Jinora. Horror, monsters, Maroh


Prompts: Teo, Kai, Horror Movie AU

Team: Ember Island Eel Hounds

Element: Fire

Words: 2614

~The Northern Air Temple of Nightmares~

Iroh leaned back and gazed into the fire as the storm raged just beyond the glass. Even with the storm raging, Iroh could hear the crackling of the fire and his husband's soft steady breathing. Both were exhausted after three full days of meetings and politically motivated meals at the Zaofu Peace Summit. Iroh and Mako had attended the summit every year since its inception 11 years ago as delegates for the Fire Nation and they still hadn't found a way to make it less exhausting.

He moved some hair out of Mako's face before taking off Mako's glasses and setting them on the side table. How Mako always managed to fall asleep in his glasses was one of those adorable quirks, Iroh both loved and worried about. Iroh sighed and checked the time. It was almost eleven, he should probably rouse Mako so they could go to bed proper and be ready for travel in the morning.

The doors to the room slammed open as Kai raced in, wet, panicked and waking up Mako who panicked and sent both himself and Iroh tumbling off the sofa.

"Mako! I need your help!" Kai explained gripping the back of the sofa and yelling at the two royals. "Jinora, she's in trouble!"

Mako sat up and untangled himself from Iroh. "Uh come again?"

"Jinora! She's in trouble!" Kai gripped his hair. "Oh spirits, I'm in trouble! Tenzin told us not to go near there and we did and oh spirits this is bad!"

Iroh stood up. "What are you talking about?"

"The Northern Air Temple! We were trying to take a shortcut to get here from the Northern Water Tribe and we were ambushed and they took her!"

Mako stood up. "Ambushed by what?"

Kai shivered. "By monsters!"

Iroh stepped back. "I thought they were just stories my dad told us during Halloween. I'm sorry Kai but you're wife is probably already dead and turned into one of Dr. Teo's monsters by now."

"Okay, let's slow down there sweetheart." Mako raised and eyebrow and looked from Iroh to Kai. "What exactly happened Kai? I thought the Northern Air Temple was this kind of futuristic steam city...thing"

"It was but then Teo's father died and Teo turned to dark science to bring him back and turned the whole temple into a nightmare." Iroh explained in almost a whisper. "People who go there don't come back with all their limbs if they come back at all."

Mako placed a finger on Iroh's lips. "Let's let Kai tell us what happened and then while we're on our way to the temple you can explain what you know about the temple. Ok honey?"

Iroh shook his head. "Oh no, we are not going to that place! No!"

"You're a general and the Fire Lord, I think you're being a bit over dramatic." Mako turned back to Kai. "So Kai please, tell us what happened, what took Jinora?"

"Well the weather was so bad I couldn't get a good picture, but it looked like a bunch of monkeys with wings." He held up his arm showing off a gash. "And claws."

Mako sighed and looked at the storm. "Great, do you think we can wait for the storm to pass? You know for better visibility."

Kai shook his head. "No! Jinora needs us now!"

Mako groaned and grabbed Iroh's hand. "Ok, we're in. Just let use get changed. I'll also radio Korra so she can lend a hand." Mako paused. "Hey Kai why'd you come here and not to Republic City? It's so much closer to the Temple."

"I didn't think anyone would be there because of the summit. Now come on! We're wasting time!" Kai started to pace. "We can't just doddle here Jinora is in real danger."

"I know she is Kai, but right now neither Iroh or I are even dressed properly. If we just rush off we're not going to be able to help Jinora at all."

Kai didn't look convinced but nodded.

.o.

Mako looked over at Iroh worried. "You ok? I've never seen you like this. You're actually pacing, that's my thing"

"No, I'm not fine. I do not want to do this but Jinora needs our help and you're going to go regardless." Iroh put his arms around Mako's shoulders. "And if you're going I'm going."

Mako turned and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, but you really don't have to if you're that scared."

"I do. Now let's get this over with and find Jinora." Iroh grabbed his raincoat. "And hopefully not die in the process."

"Just a moment let me send a message to Korra. If there are really monsters we'll need her."

.o.

The flight to Northern Air Temple was only an hour but the three were soaked to the bone as they landed at the entrance of Temple.

"Well so far no flying monkeys." Mako muttered as he reached out to open the door but Iroh stopped him.

"We should probably not just rush in." Iroh cautioned.

Mako rolled his eyes. "It's just a door, not a booby-" He pressed on the door and the floor under them sending them down a shoot. "TRAAAAaaaaappp!"

Mako splashed down into a smelly liquid in a pitch-black room. "Uh trap."

"See! Told you to not to rush!" Iroh snapped.

"Ok, ok, just calm down and let's think this through." Mako looked around but couldn't make anything out in the darkness. "Kai? Kai are you here?"

"He probably used airbending to not fall down the pit." Iroh muttered becoming more annoyed than afraid.

"Oh yeah bending good idea. Let's get a little light in here" Mako moved to summon a flame.

"NO!" Iroh grabbed Mako's wrist. "Unless you want to kill us don't make a spark."

"Uhh why?"

"Because, we're surrounded by gas. That smell? It's rotten eggs made to warn people about a gas leak. We'll have to try to get out of here without light."

Iroh felt like he was going to stop breathing any minute as the two wandered through the dark water. All the stories he father told him of the mad man in temple. As they wadded, Iroh felt like something was watching him and when they reached the door it seemed like they had been there for hours. Opening the door, Iroh and Mako entered a dimly lit hallway with mirrors every few landings.

At this point Iroh took stock of what the two looked like; besides damp, Mako seemed ok, he hadn't lost his glasses and his hair was still neatly pulled back into a braid, and only had a few scratched from the fall. Iroh, looked at himself, he was paler than normal, his salt and pepper hair was a mess, and he looked a little crazed behind the eyes.

"Not the best look for you love." Mako observed helping smoothing down Iroh's askew collar. "But I guess that's really something we should worry about now."

"Yeah, we need to find Jinora, Kai and get the hell out of here before we run into anymore trouble or worse, Teo himself."

"Yeah, can you explain that a little more?" Mako asked as the two walked up the stairs. "Teo was from Aang's time he'd have to be super old if not dead by now shouldn't he?"

"Well King Bumi was well passed a hundred years old when he died so Teo could still be around." Iroh scanned the walls for any signs of moment. "My grandpa told me stories about Teo and his experiments. According to him, Teo went mad after the death of his father and started doing experiments to try to bring him back. By the time Aang found of about it, he had made an army of monsters even the avatar couldn't stop him. Grandpa used to tell me if I didn't behave he'd let one of Teo's monsters take me away."

Mako crossed his arms. "Somehow I think that was more of a way to get you to behave and not an actual story."

At the corner of Iroh's eye he could see one of mirrors start to slowly open and sent a fireball at it just missing Mako.

"What the hell!" Mako jumped back. "What was that for?"

"It was starting to open!"

Mako shook his head. "You're jumping at shadows. Come on, there's nothing behind that mirror besides a wall." Mako grabbed the edge of the mirror and pulled it open revealing a new passageway. "Ok, so you found a secret passage but it's empty no monsters here."

Behind Mako a creature stepped out of the shadows holding a club. It was a grotesque creature that looked like it was made of different animals and several people.

"Run!" Iroh pushed Mako out of the way and then everything went dark. The last thing he remembered was Mako tumbling down the stairs.

.o.

The first thing Iroh noticed when he came too was the smell, it was a sickening smell the made Iroh want to retch. He opened his eyes to see he was tied up on a stone floor. A creature with four human arms and the torso of furry ape walked over and pulled him to his feet and dragged him over to a desk where a man who just looked wrong for some reason. The man's eyes and veins glowed with a purple hue that pulsed and his age was unreadable. He smiled and offered Iroh a seat.

"Do I have the pleasure of addressing the Fire Lord?"

Iroh gulped and tried to ignore every single urge his body to run. "You do."

"Excellent. I was worried it was the other one." He checked his nails. "And that would be…unfortunate."

"What have you done with Mako?" Iroh snarled. "If you've hurt him, I swear-"

"I have done no such thing dear boy, my people are still trying to find him but since he's not you I'm not that interested. He owes me nothing, unlike you."

"And what do I owe you?" Iroh asked.

"YOU DARE ASK ME THAT?!" He bellowed. "YOUR FAMILY TOOK MY MOTHER, MY LEGS, MY FATHER'S GOOD NAME AND LATER HIS LIFE AND YOU ASK ME WHAT YOU OWE ME? You owe me everything."

Iroh drew back. "You're Teo…but how you look so…"

"Young?" Teo smiled. "A byproduct of my experiments." He gestured around him at the creatures. "I've practically unlocked the secrets of live here, I can bring life to anything, I have the knowledge and the technology to do it. Soon I'll have my father back and everything you're family did won't matter."

Iroh shrunk back. "So you have all the power to do that what do you want from me?"

"I need your heart."

"What?!"

"Your heart child, when I first tried to bring my father back I damaged his beyond repair so I need a new one." He smiled. "I figured the best one would be yours. After all it's only fair."

"No it's not! I didn't do anything to you!"

"Sins of the father pass down to the son." Teo commented nonchalantly. "Now let's getting everything ready I've missed my father dearly."

.o.

Mako ran through the temple desperately trying to figure out where the monster had taken Iroh. Breaking through one door Mako found himself in an office of sorts. Confused, Mako pulled his broken glasses from his pocket to get a better view of the room. On the wall someone had nailed different notes and formulas. They started neat and very scientific and ended with a crude drawing of a man pulling a heart out of man dressed in red and putting it into what looked like a corpse.

"Oh Shit that's not good!"

Mako raced from the room and now even more desperate than before started kicking down doors looking for Iroh and the lab he had read about. Most of the rooms were abandoned and well beyond repair. He kicked the door open of one room and found a flock of the flying Monkeys Kai had mentioned. They were eating something and Mako almost threw up spotting Jinora's pale arm in one of their mouths and probably Kai's foot in another. Without even thinking Mako filling the room with fire and moved on.

"Fuck, where are you Iroh?"

.o.

Iroh tried his best to fight both his restraints and the drugs now surging through his system. Teo leered over him with scalpel in his hand.

"Stop struggling. You owe me this." He hissed backhanding Iroh with his free hand.

Iroh growled and kept trying to tug his arm free. Teo violently stabbed Iroh's chest with the scalpel.

"AHHHHHH!"

"I said stop MOVING!"

Unable to fight any more Iroh sank back and started to smell smoke. The bright color of fire started to fill the left side of his quickly blurring vision. Soon all he saw was fire; he barely registered the sound of Teo screaming, or a new person in the room. Someone was undoing his restrains and pulling him to his feet. They pulled him through the inferno and back out into the cold rain.

.o.

"All that Airbending history gone." Meelo lamented. "And you're sure you saw my sister's arm that night?"

Mako nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry both about your sister and the temple but those monsters, they had to burn."

Meelo nodded. "I understand. I will be going out there to see the damage for myself but I believe you that is was necessary." He sighed. "I can't believe my grandfather and father let someone like Teo have free reign like that for so long."

Mako shrugged. "They probably tried to stop him at one point but with his monsters it would be hard to reach him. Maybe they hoped that if they kept people away everything would work itself out."

"Yeah, that didn't happen at all and lost a sister because of that choice." Meelo spat before sighing. "I miss my sister dearly but I'm thankful you and Iroh did try to save Jinora. How's Iroh doing? Korra said he had a nasty chest wound when she found you two."

"He's recovering, slowly." Mako put his hands in his pockets. "I've taken over most of his duties for the time being."

Meelo nodded and put his hand on Mako's shoulder. "Well give him my best and don't start any wars whiles he's not looking."

Mako chuckled. "I won't and I'll pass along the message."

.o.

Iroh dosed near the fire, he could hear the rain pelting against the windows and Mako's slow even breath. He looked down and chuckled as he took Mako's glasses off and set them aside.

"Thank the spirits some things don't change."

Mako smiled. "Did I fall asleep with them on again?"

"Yeah, you did but it's ok I don't mind making sure you don't break your new glasses in your sleep." Iroh sighed. "If that's my biggest concern I think I can handle it."

Mako nodded. "Until you're all healed up, that's perfectly fine." Mako yawned. "But I won't say I'm not looking forward to just being the prince consort again. "

"Thank you again for stepping up these past few weeks."

Mako smiled and kissed Iroh. "Of course, we're team. I'll always have your back and you'll always have mine. Just next time I'll believe you when you tell me there's a temple full of monsters."

"Good because, I don't think I can handle being stabbed in the chest again."

.o.

The ashes of the temple sat quietly when suddenly a hand with glowing veins burst through the debris. There surrounded by rubble and moonlight a man laughed hysterically.

A/N:

Thank you all for reading please comment if you feel so compelled and happy halloween!


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